Food for Thought

After spring rains, when the sun's high in the sky, Midwestern farmers are on the move, harvesting crops and selling goods at numerous farmers' markets and even grocery stores. While you might be looking for better prices (or sun exposure) at the markets, know that local produce is better for your health and the environment.

With the green movement in full force, people are realizing that shipping goods across the country year-round hurts the environment because of increased pollution, adding to the larger issue of global warming. Moreover, according to www.foodroutes.org, fruits and vegetables that are shipped around the world can spend a week or two in transit before being delivered to a local supermarket — and who knows what kinds of chemicals were used to keep them fresh that long. To top it off, “the USDA says that food travels 1,200 miles before it hits your table, which means it loses half of its nutritional value,” says Lane McConnell, marketing specialist for the Missouri Department of Agriculture. “However, produce at a farmers' market is picked 24 hours at the latest before it's sold to you.” It's these issues that have sparked passion for supporting the local economy and environment, including local family farms and organic practices.

Bypassing fast-food restaurants and meals in a box, nothing's greener than organic, locally grown produce, and now nothing's more popular. The farmers' market directory listed 4,385 farmers' markets in operation around the U.S. in 2006, an 18-percent increase from 2004. Throughout Missouri, all kinds of family-run farms make up more    than 130 farmers' markets across the state. Some farmers even supply grocery stores with local produce, such as Britts Farm Market, in Manhattan, Kan., which supplies local Hy-Vee stores with farm-fresh produce. But the benefits of shopping at a farmers' market include the chance to ask farmers about the products they're selling, such as their use of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and other preservatives, in order to get to know the grower and the produce that could be going home with you.

The Kansas City Food Circle is an organization that promotes local organic and free-range agriculture. (Free-range or free-roaming, as described by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, means that producers must demonstrate to the Agency that poultry has access to the outside.) Information from its website says that some farmers use different feeding methods to create leaner meats (from grass-fed and pastured animals) than those found in supermarkets, so ask the farmer what the best way is to prepare it.

City Market, at 5th and Main, was named the 2008 Missouri Farmers' Market of the Year by the Missouri Farmers' Market Association and AgriMissouri. It hosts about 53 farmers on Saturdays, but before any of them can be added to the list, Deb Connors, market master, personally travels to the farms for inspections. Because there's so much to choose from at farmers' markets, you might run into some growers who offer 75 different varieties, and while many use organicpractices, they just haven't done the  paperwork to become certified, Deb says, because of the extensive process. At City Market, along with many other area farmers' markets, you're likely to find buffalo, beef, free-range chicken, honey, jams/jellies, spinach, lettuce, eggs, cheeses, orchids, wine vinegars, organic breads, grapes, watermelon, strawberries, corn, and a large variety of heirloom tomatoes, cauliflower and asparagus, plus much more, depending on the season.

Lettuce is ready in late April, field tomatoes are picked in June, berries are ripe in July, and autumn brings apples and pears. But when the growing season in the Midwest is over, don't stress over the lack of local, organic produce available. Several varieties of produce purchased during the growing season, such as berries, can be frozen and used at a later date. Canning, dehydrating and freezing, even fermenting and pickling, fruits and vegetables will keep the fridge and pantry stocked with locally grown, fresh foods during the winter to   early spring months. Some local products, however, can be found year-round, such as those from family-owned Shatto Milk Co., in Osborn, Mo., and Sho-Me Farms, just south of Columbia, Mo., which produces beef without hormones, steroids or other growth-enhancing additives and sells to Nature's Pantry in Independence.

Robert Shatto, owner of Shatto Milk Co. and local dairy farmer, knows how important it is to purchase locally. “No.1, the freshness of the products — you can't beat it,” he says. “No. 2, people want to know where their food comes from. We invite our customers, who are our neighbors, to come out and see what we do by touring our farm. No. 3, we're environmentally friendly. We aren't shipping milk all over the world or even the state; we're putting money back into our community, so it's staying in the Kansas City region.” Shatto Milk Co. received the 2007 Environmental Excellence Award for Business in Kansas City because it has kept more than four million plastic bottles out of area landfills by using returnable glass bottles, decreased its carbon footprint by only distributing locally and reduced paper towel usage by 95 percent.
 With local farmers doing their part, it's time to do yours — your health and the environment will utterly benefit from the choices you make.
     

Click to the next page for a listing of several area farmers' markets.

Web Exclusive:
Kansas City Area Farmers' Markets

39th Street Community Market
www.39thstreetmarket.com

Bannister Federal Complex Farmers' Market
816.926.3039

Blue Springs Downtown Farmers' Market
www.bluespringsfarmersmarket.com

Briarcliff Village's Organic and Locally Grown Farmers' Market
816.595.5820

Capitol Midweek Farmers' Market
785.296.8060

The City Market
www.thecitymarket.org

Crown Center Farmers' Market
816.792.2670

Downtown Lee's Summit Farmers' Market
816.246.6598

The Farmers' Community Market at Brookside
www.farmerscommunitymarket.com

Historic Downtown Liberty Farmers' Market
816.456.9339

Independence Farmers' & Craft Market
816.796.8927

Kansas City Organics & Natural Farmers' Market at Minor Park
www.kcorganics.com

Lawrence Farmers' Market
www.lawrencefarmersmarket.com

Leavenworth Farmers' Market
www.leavenworthfarmersmarket.com

Merriam Farmers' Market
913.322.5550

Merriam Organic Market
www.merriamorganicmarket.org

North Kansas City Friday's Farmers' Market
816.472.7700

North Topeka Farmers' Market
785.862.9576

Olathe Farmers' Market
913.971.6263

Overland Park Farmers' Market
913.669.3647

Pleasant Hill Farmers' Market
816.256.8889

Parkville Farmers' Market
816.450.8810

Platte City Farmers' Market
816.858.5306

The Sunday Market, Unity Temple the Plaza
www.edenalley.com

Shawnee Farmers' Market
913.631.2500

Topeka Farmers' Market
www.topekafarmersmarket.com

Troost Community Market
816.561.0604

Troostwood Youth Garden Market
913.620.8427

Weston Farmers' Market
816.640.5500

Wichita Farmers' Markets
www.kansasgrownmarket.com and www.oldtownfarmersmarket.com

Zona Rosa Farmers' Market
816.587.8180

For a complete listing of farmers' markets, visit www.mofarmersmarket.blogspot.com and www.oznet.ksu.edu/farmersmarkets. For more information on purchasing locally, visit www.localharvest.org or www.kcfoodcircle.org. Additional tips for making local produce last throughout the year can be found at www.uga.edu/nchfp.